With the UK construction sector still in the doldrums, the prospects of a new life across the Atlantic might seem enticing but what might be the ramifications to the UK construction industry and the recruiters that serve it?

Paul Dyson, team leader at construction recruiter at LEDA Recruitment in Leeds, says that with no skills shortages in the UK and construction companies still laying workers off, Canada is certainly an attractive option.

“There are lads that have worked for me for 10 years and they have got no work. It depends on their circumstances. I am sure the move to Canada would tempt a lot of people right now.”

A spokesperson for UK construction sector skills council ConstructionSkills told Recruiter that due to the transient nature of construction work and because the market for skilled trades people was now a global one, emigration of UK workers to Canada was inevitable.

The prospects of the UK losing its skilled tradespeople to Canada has been increased by the Canadian authorities making it easier for them to obtain visas. According to the Canadian Visa Bureau, the time taken for skilled tradespeople to obtain a visa will be six to eight weeks, compared with six to eight months normally.

There is certainly no shortage of work in Canada for people with the right skills. Mark Peapell, vice president at multi-sector recruiter Peapell Associates in Halifax, Nova Scotia, told Recruiter that in Nova Scotia the government is putting money into infrastructure projects such as highways, roads, bridge replacements and hospitals.

“There are about 119 projects totalling CA$21.2bn (£12.69bn) which they are looking at spending here on petro-chemical projects and building bridges in the Atlantic region (Newfoundland, Nova Scotia area). They are also putting money into build and housing projects and increasing the number of wind farms.

“We would be looking at recruiting, heavy equipment professionals and specialist trade skills in construction connected to the larger projects.

“All of the trades value have increased because there has been a shortage of tradespeople. It is an issue of numbers. In Nova Scotia, less than 1m people live here, so specialist people with specialist knowledge will not be on every street corner,” adds Peapell.

Peapell says that tradespeople could be attracted by the prospects of a better way of life for both themselves and family.

Should there be a significant movement of UK workers to Canada, this will have significant ramifications in the UK, according to Jack Markiewicz, lead officer at the Public sector People Managers’ Association (PPMA), and talent management and director of human resources and change at Swindon Borough Council.

“Clearly with the significant work that needs to be done around the Olympic Games there will be shortages of skilled people - this, together with the pull from Canada, may drag wages up.

“If this happens we will have difficulties in maintaining the housing stock as well as the infrastructure of our roads and municipal services. The secret is to engage staff in dialogue and work on talent development which will keep our good people as they will be able to develop themselves and see a future career path.”

Nigel Smith, migration case worker at the Canadian Visa Bureau, adds that places like Edmonton and Calgary are particularly attractive to a British tradespeople because of a lower cost of living.

Canada will undoubtedly prove attractive to many UK tradespeople, however with the UK construction sector still bumping along the bottom, there are few concerns, at least in the short term, that Canada’s gain will be the UK’s loss.

Key facts

• January’s Glenigan Index, which measures, construction project activity, shows the value of construction projects starting on site in January 2010 was 8% lower than in January 2009
• The latest seasonally adjusted CIPS/Markit UK Construction Purchasing Managers’ Index, while showing an increase in construction activity from 29.3 index points in December to 34.5 in January, still pointed to a substantial monthly contraction in
• activity